Laboratory measurements
of petrophysical properties
Our laboratory is well equipped with to measure radioactivity, thermal conductivity, and specific heat capacity routinely. Borehole cores as well as cuttings are investigated.
Gamma ray spectrometry
Laboratory gamma spectrometry (with NaI
and HpGe detectors) is used to determine radioactive heat production in
rock samples. Heat production is a decisive factor in shaping the temperature
field of the continental lithosphere. Our systematic studies allow the
estimation of heat production from borehole logs (GR) and from seismic
P-wave velocity data.
Thermophysical properties
Thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity are needed for numerical modelling as well as for field projects in heat extraction/storage. Line source equipment like QTM and TK04 are used for thermal conductivity determinations whereas for heat capacity measurements we developed a new instrument. By determining bulk density also the thermal diffusivity is also obtained.
Instruments for heat capacity measurements
Data bank
From all our projects and measurement campaigns an extensive data base has been compiled which contains data of over 2000 Swiss rock samples. The properties include, although not uniformly for all samples, vp velocity at different pressures, bulk density, heat production, thermal conductivity, and specific heat capacity. Some of the data (Tertiary Molasse) are available on CD ROM.